Concert News

Ian Mcnabb With Full Band Live In Manchester

• 31st Jul 2014

Legendary scouse singer singwriter, Ian McNabb, and former vocalist of cult band Icicle Works, is playing some full band gigs across the country this autumn, and lands in Manchester on the 31st October at the Ruby Lounge. There is no Liverpool date, so be prepared for a scouse invasion Manchester!

Ian McNabb and Cold Shoulder
31st October – The Ruby Lounge Manchester

Born on the 3rd November 1960, Robert Ian McNabb is an English singer-songwriter and musician from Liverpool, England. He is known both for his work as leader and songwriter-in-chief of The Icicle Works in the 1980s, and his critically acclaimed solo career throughout from the early 1990s to date. He has also played with musicians as diverse as Ringo Starr, Crazy Horse, Mike Scott (of The Waterboys), and Danny Thompson of folk legends Pentangle.

McNabb’s first book, an autobiography entitled Merseybeast, was released in October 2008.

After playing in Liverpool bands in his teens, McNabb first came to prominence as the lead vocalist and songwiter for The Icicle Works. This rock band was founded in 1980 and had success in the UK with the top 20 single “Love Is A Wonderful Colour” in 1983. They also hit the top 40 in North America with the single “Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly)” in 1984.
In October 2006, after 15 years as a solo artist, McNabb unexpectedly revived the name “The Icicle Works” for a series of UK concerts. However, this new version of McNabb’s old band did not feature any original Icicle Works members other than McNabb himself. In essence, McNabb seemed to be re-branding himself, using a somewhat more successful trade name in order to give his work increased exposure. Throughout 2007 and into early 2008, McNabb played dates as both a solo artist and with The Icicle Works. He then retired the name for a few years, before playing a handful of “30th Anniversary” shows as The Icicle Works in 2011.

Around the time of the split of the Icicle Works in 1990, McNabb spent some time as a de facto member of The Wild Swans, playing guitar and singing background vocals. He then resurfaced in 1993 with a collection of demos which would form the basis of his first solo album, Truth and Beauty. Recorded on a shoestring, it won him a record deal with Andrew Lauder‘s new ‘This Way Up’ Label.

The next single pulled from the album, I’m Game, failed to chart, so This Way Up went for a different strategy. (I Go) My Own Way was re-recorded with The Stone Roses producer John Leckie at the helm, but it too failed to significantly impact on the UK charts. Still, This Way Up stuck with McNabb and vice versa.

Post-Truth and Beauty, McNabb was allegedly inspired to a rockier sound by the engineer who mastered that record, telling him “Aye, Ian, your rocking days are behind you.” Legend has it that McNabb went back to his home in Liverpool, and recorded a demo of what would become the coruscating opener of Head Like a Rock, “Fire Inside My Soul”.
Head Like a Rock was subsequently nominated for the 1994 Mercury Music Prize, and although M People would end up taking the award home, the attendant publicity surrounding the award-nominated album propelled Head Like A Rock into the UK album charts, where it peaked at No. 29.

On returning to performing his own material, McNabb focused on acoustic music, leading to a residency at the Birmingham club of Ronnie Scott. The material arising out of this became the low-key drummerless album A Party Political Broadcast on Behalf of the Emotional Party, released by McNabb on his own Fairfield label in 1998. Aside from McNabb, the only other musicians on the album were Waterboys Mike Scott and Anthony Thistlethwaite, and legendary bassist Danny Thompson.

McNabb returned to his own Fairfield label in 2002, and issued the low-key The Gentleman Adventurer. Best described as a semi-acoustic album, it is similar in spirit to his first solo album, Truth and Beauty, with occasional use of the drum machine to accompany more upbeat numbers such as “Ain’t No Way to Behave”. Almost entirely performed by McNabb (with help from his long-time collaborator and bassist in the latter-day Icicle Works Roy Corkill), the album takes in a variety of styles from rock, through ballads, a touch of funk, and acoustic storytelling.

2004 saw McNabb issuing a second ‘Best Of’ album, Potency: The Best of Ian McNabb. This covered his whole solo oeuvre, showcasing his eclectic musical taste and output.
In 2005, McNabb successfully pushed a single, “Let The Young Girl Do What She Wants To” to No. 38 on the UK charts. This was McNabb’s highest-ever chart placing as a solo artist, and his biggest hit since The Icicle Works’ “Love Is a Wonderful Colour” reached No. 15 in early 1984, a span of over 21 years. This unexpected chart success was assisted considerably by his loyal fanbase buying several different formats of the single in an attempt to gain greater publicity and recognition for his then-current album, Before All of This.

In January and February 2008, McNabb was involved with “The Number Ones Project“, a concert and compilation album celebrating Liverpool’s fifty-six No. 1 singles on the UK charts. McNabb played at the January concert, and subsequently appeared on the album, released in February, with his studio cover of John Lennon‘s “Woman”.
In late 2008, McNabb participated in a concert reunion of City Lights, an early pre-Icicle Works band of which he had been a member as a teen. At the end of the year, McNabb released his autobiography, entitled Merseybeast.

McNabb’s eighth studio album, Great Things, was first made available at gigs in September, 2009. As of November, it was made available for sale on McNabb’s website. His ninth album, Little Episodes was available exclusively through his website beginning in February, 2012.

McNabb’s tenth studio album, Eclectic Warrior, was created as a pledge music project, and was released on Monday, 18 March 2013.